Manufacturing apparatus of stiffener for center-pillar

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener having a closed section, including: a fixing shape plate; a concave cavity formed on a bottom surface of the fixing shape plate on which a blank is seated; a movable shape plate configured to slide on the fixing shape plate; a convex shaped core formed on the movable shape plate and configured to press and bend the blank toward the cavity; a mandrel inserted into the cavity to fix the bent blank; and a plurality of shape plates configured to slide over the blank and bend both ends of the blank protruding from the fixing shape plate to form a closed section.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-47292, filed on May 4, 2012, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference

BACKGROUND

(a) Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener to be molded having a closed section, and more particularly, to a manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener, capable of easily forming a center pillar stiffener having a variable section along a longitudinal direction in a blank state corresponding to a mandrel having ball joint movement and extracted within a cast mold.

(b) Background Art

Generally, a stiffener is a component connected to a center pillar of a vehicle body for preventing a side collapse of a seat space toward the interior of the vehicle during a side collision.

Accordingly, the center pillar stiffener is manufactured with high tensile steel or ultra high tensile steel having high tensile strength and yield strength wherein the stiffener has a closed section, in other words, the inner part is opened lengthwise to reduce weight and improve rigidity.

According to a prior method of manufacturing a center pillar stiffener having a closed section, as shown in FIG. 1, flanges 3 a, 3 b facing each other are molded to the respective bent plates 2 a, 2 b and then welded while the flanges 3 a, 3 b are in close contact with each other. In other words, to manufacture a center pillar stiffener through a press processing that is generally used, two blanks are necessary in comparison to manufacturing the stiffener using a trimming process for cutting a product from the blank and extracting it, wherein a piercing process for forming a bolt bore, a flanging process for forming a welding portion (e.g., flange) and a welding process of the flanges are necessary.

However, since the center pillar stiffener manufactured as described above has a closed section through a welding process, quality deviation of the product due to welding quality may occur.

The description provided above as a related art of the present invention is just for helping understanding the background of the present invention and should not be construed as being included in the related art known by those skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention provides a manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener, capable of forming a product from a blank without a joint welding process.

A manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener, having a closed section in a blank of a plate shape, according to the present invention includes: a fixing shape plate on which a concave cavity is seated; a movable shape plate configured to slide on the fixing shape plate (e.g., having a closed state and an opened state) and on which a convex shaped core is formed to press the blank toward the cavity to bend the blank creating a closed section; a mandrel inserted into the cavity to fix the bent blank after the movable shape plate is opened; and two facing shape plates configured to slide to a closed state and an opened state, and bend both ends of the blank protruding from the fixing shape plate to form a closed section.

The mandrel includes at least two or more segments wherein on one side of each segment a ball is formed and on the other side of the segment a fastening groove is formed and the ball is fitted into the fastening groove of the adjacent segment forming a ball joint movement between the ball and the fastening groove. Further, the segments have different outer diameters according to the shapes of the cavities and the edges of the segments are rounded to form a curved surface. In addition, the mandrel includes a first mandrel entering from a one side of the cavity and a second mandrel entering from an opposite direction of to the first mandrel.

[NOTE: This section was moved to the Detailed Description.]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof illustrated the accompanying drawings which are given hereinbelow by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view illustrating a manufacturing method of a stiffener according to a prior art;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view illustrating a manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view illustrating manufacturing steps of a center pillar stiffener according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary enlarged view illustrating step D in FIG. 3 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view illustrating a mandrel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view illustrating a point β where a sectional area is decreased abruptly due to a bent shape when the stiffener is manufactured, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view illustrating a first mandrel and a second mandrel entering into a first side and a second side of a fixing shape plate to manufacture a stiffener having a point β where a sectional area is decreased abruptly, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

It should be understood that the accompanying drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various preferred features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment.

In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, combustion, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived from resources other than petroleum).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Additionally, it is understood that the term controller refers to a hardware device that includes a memory and a processor. The memory is configured to store the modules/units and the processor is specifically configured to execute said modules to perform one or more processes which are described further below.

Hereinafter reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view illustrating a manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a fixing shape plate 10 may be disposed on a lower side of the apparatus and a movable shape plate 30 configured to move vertically toward the fixing shape plate 10 may be disposed above the fixing shape plate 10. A plurality of shape plates 40, 50 may be disposed toward each other on both sides of the apparatus so the fixing shape plate 10 is entered over from a side when the movable shape plate 30 is opened (an opened state).

Further, a first mandrel 60 and a second mandrel 70 may enter the fixing shape plate 10 from both sides of a cavity 11 formed on the fixing shape plate 10. In particular, the fixing shape plate 10, the movable shape plate 30 and the shape plates 40, 50 may move by a hydraulic or pneumatic device, controlled according to electric signal from a controller 80.

The cavity 11 of a concave shape on the fixing shape plate 10 is configured may have a predetermined pattern according to the shape of the stiffener to be manufactured. Further, a core 31, as shown in FIG. 3, may be formed in a convex shape on the movable shape plate 30 and may be configured to press the blank 1 disposed on the fixing shape plate 10 and bend the blank to form a desired shape when the movable shape plate 30 is lowered (e.g., a closed state).

In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the blank 1 of a plate shape may be bending molded to manufacture a center pillar stiffener according to the steps as shown in FIG. 3. In other words, when the blank 1 is seated on the fixing shape plate 10 above the cavity 11, the blank 1 may be bent when the movable shape plate 30 is opened (A) and the core 31 is lowered toward the cavity 11 while the movable shape plate 30 is closed at a predetermined pressure (B). As a result, the blank 1 may be bent on a surface of the cavity 11 and the core 31 may retract away from the cavity 11 when the movable shape plate 30 is opened (C).

After the core 31 retracts, the first mandrel 60 and the second mandrel 70 may enter into the cavity 11 from one side (or both sides) of the fixing shape plate 10 (D) to fix the blank 1 to a bottom surface of the cavity 11 (E). Further, both ends of the blank 1 protruding over the top edges of the fixing shape plate 10 while fixed by the mandrels 60, 70 may be bent by sliding the shape plates 40, 50 toward the cavity 11, over the fixing shape plate 10 to form a closed section of the blank 1 (F).

Additionally, after the shape plates 40, 50 retract to their original locations (G), the mandrels 60, 70 may be removed in sequence (H) and the blank 1 may be extracted from the interior of the fixing shape plate 10 as the center pillar stiffener having a closed section.

The entering step of the first mandrel 60, is shown in detail in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the shapes of the fixing shape plate 10 and the cavity 11 are not a flat configuration and thus, the mandrels 60, 70 may have ball joint movement. In other words, the mandrels 60, 70 may be connected by ball joints to substantially conform to the shape of the cavity 11 in the fixing shape plate 10. As shown in FIG. 5, the first mandrel 60 may include a plurality of segments 60 a, 60 b, 60 c. A ball 61 may be formed on one side of each segment and a fastening groove 62 may be formed on the other side of each respective segment 60 a, 60 b, 60 c.

Each ball 61 of the segments (e.g., a ball joint) may be fitted into a corresponding fastening groove 62 of the adjacent segment to join the segments forming a ball joint movement between the ball and the fastening groove. Additionally, the configuration of the second mandrel 60 is similar to that of the first mandrel 60. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, due to the joint connection between the segments, the mandrels 60, 70 may easily slide over the bent portion a formed on a stiffener (e.g., even though an inner peripheral surface of the cavity may be bent).

Furthermore, the segments 60 a, 60 b, 60 c may have different outer diameters according to the shape of the cavity 11 and the edges of the segments may be rounded to avoid scratching the blank 1 when entering into the cavity 11.

Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a jaw β may be formed on one side of the center pillar stiffener according to a design of a vehicle body, where an inner diameter decreases abruptly. Accordingly, in the present invention, the blank 1 may be fixed stably by the two mandrels 60, 70. In other words, the first mandrel 60 and the second mandrel 70 may enter the cavity 11 separately so the stiffener having the jaw β and bent portion a may be manufactured more efficiently.

According to the present invention, the closed section of the stiffener may be formed using one blank to reduce material cost and further formation and welding processes for forming a flange may be omitted to shorten manufacturing time and lower manufacturing unit cost.

The mandrel may move in a ball joint motion and be used to form a stiffener having a bent tubular shape. Furthermore, the segments of the mandrel may have different outer diameters and the edges thereof may be rounded, respectively to prevent scratching when entering the cavity or when being extracted from a fixing shape plate. In addition, the mandrel may include a first mandrel and a second mandrel, which enter from both sides of a cavity so the mandrel may be easily extracted when a stiffener having various shapes is manufactured.

The invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the accompanying claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A manufacturing apparatus of a center pillar stiffener, having a closed section, comprising: a fixing shape plate; a concave cavity formed on a bottom surface of the fixing shape plate on which a blank is seated; a movable shape plate configured to slide onto the fixing shape plate; a convex shaped core formed on the movable shape plate and configured to press and bend the blank toward the cavity; a mandrel inserted into the cavity to fix the bent blank; and a plurality of shape plates configured to slide over the blank and bend both ends of the blank protruding from the fixing shape plate to form a closed section.
 2. The manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mandrel comprises at least two or more segments including a ball one side of each segment and a fastening groove on the other side of each segment, wherein the ball is fitted into the fastening groove of the adjacent segment to form a ball joint movement between the ball and the fastening groove.
 3. The manufacturing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the segments have different outer diameters according to a shape of the cavity.
 4. The manufacturing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the edge of each segment is rounded to form a curved surface.
 5. The manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mandrel comprises: a first mandrel entering the cavity from a one side and a second mandrel entering the cavity from an opposite direction to the first mandrel. 